Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
"How Should We Live" - Coggle Diagram
"How Should We Live"
What is the cost for living the "Good Life"?
Plato, Republic
Social Stratification
Socrates says Shopkeepers are weak in the mind + body & Wage Earners are just strong enough to lift.
As the city's needs expand, so does the labor and work required to meet these needs. Low status workers that Socrates describes as mentally and physically inferior bear the responsibility.
Stiglitz, Inequality & Economic Growth
Opportunity Inequality
Racial Inequality
Wealth Inequality
Income Inequality
Power Inequality
Le Guin, Omelas
Omelas as a version of the Trolley Problem
Can the common good justify the suffering of one life?
Omelas, like other Le Guin works, is a society that is rooted in Utilitarianism, the single suffering life of the boy is treated as less equal than the collective happiness of the rest of Omelas
Dubner, Podcast
Are Businesses Growing the Economic Pie or Taking a Bigger Slice?
Business Leaders are increasing profit, without creating more value and without paying worker's a bigger piece of the pie.
What do we owe to ourselves?
Plato, Republic
We should combat Plato's thinking in the sense that we do not need to live in the box that the people around us tell us we "specialize" in. Society doesn't need to establish your identity.
Didion, On Morality
Navigating our own moral compass
Not the same for everyone - shaped by different upbringing, moral codes, life experiences, philosophy, religion, etc. Best to reflect and understand for ourselves.
Stiglitz, Inequality & Economic Growth
How much of our own wealth is attributed to our own success? And how does "starting position" play a role in our life?
Le Guin, Omelas
Confronting our own self-interest in Omelas
Stay + Accept
Leave + Sacrifice the amazing lifestyle + Remain Ignorant
Stay + Ignorance
Do Something?
Benkler, The Unselfish Gene
Challenge the assumptions that we all place on self-interest, how it interacts with our ability to be not selfish but selfless when working with others. Think about a situation's framing and how it plays a part in our motivations.
Dubner, Podcast
How will we decide to become "Well-Adjusted" Business Leaders?
What does "Creating Value" mean to us? Profit-maximizing is not the only way to operate a successful business
What do we owe to each other?
Plato, Republic
The city only exists through collective exchange of information, goods, and labor. We are only as good as your team, which is civilization here
Didion, On Morality
Didion's reference to "Wagon-Train Morality" is more than lessons she learned as a child, rejecting abstract ideals for logical reasoning alongside loyalty + responsibility for others
Le Guin, Omelas
Is the child's suffering every person's responsibility / Is it anyone's?
How does the contuined suffering make you think about the people aroiund you?
What do we owe to our society?
Plato, Republic
We work together through specialization to work towards the collective needs of society
Didion, On Morality
Understanding the difference between "Morality as an obligation" vs "Morality as absolute certainty'
Challenging the idea of merely following one's own conscience, understanding the implications of this mindset and what harm it has done to society
Stiglitz, Inequality & Economic Growth
The Wealth Cycle: Wealth -- better opportunities -- greater earnings -- more wealth
How can these tides shift?
Stiglitz's Solutions:
Opportunties for those without
Financial Regulation
Anti-discrimination laws
Higher Minimum Wages
Benkler, The Unselfish Gene
The systems we are apart directly influence our shared social behaviors. Treat relationships less like transactions/competitive interactions and create an environment where all different motivations can work together to unlock potential in how we express ourselves.